Last month, voting began in Alexandria for this November's election. You may now apply online to receive a ballot in the mail.

While past elections required voters to identify a reason that they could not vote in-person on Election Day, thanks to legislation patroned by Delegate Charniele Herring, enacted during this year's General Assembly session, that is no longer required.

Beginning this month, there will be extended and weekend hours at the 132 N. Royal Street location, as well as hours at Beatley Library (5005 Duke Street), Minnie Howard School (3801 W. Braddock Road) and George Washington Middle School (1005 Mount Vernon Avenue).

Almost two years ago, in conjunction with the announcement of Amazon placing a portion of its new "HQ2" in the Crystal City section of Arlington County, Governor Northam announced that part of the Commonwealth's incentive package will include state funds to support the creation of a new Virginia Tech "Innovation Campus" in Alexandria .

An idea that was once just a few bullets on a slide, is now becoming reality as the future economic engine for Potomac Yard and our City at-large.

At the end of June, the City Council approved the land-use plans for the seven buildings that will comprise the Virginia Tech campus and the first phase of development adjacent to the campus. Next month, the Planning Commission and the City Council will be considering the further approvals necessary to bring this campus to reality.

Virginia Tech's presence in Potomac Yard will define this area for generations to come. As such, the Council voted unanimously last month to request the inclusion of "VT" as part of the official name of the future Potomac Yard Metro station.

Several virtual meetings have been held over the past few months to inform the community about this important project. You can watch the meetings online.

In August, Dr. Lance Collins, previously the Dean of Engineering at Cornell University, began work as the leader of the new Innovation Campus. Dr. Collins has led Cornell's College of Engineering for the past decade and was instrumental in building Cornell Tech on Roosevelt Island in New York City.

Now onboard, Dr. Collins announced an impressive advisory board that will guide the institution's founding and he welcomed the inaugural class.

As we work to ensure that our entire community benefits from this investment, the Alexandria City Public Schools announced a new STEM-focused partnership with Virginia Tech . This will enhance science offerings in Elementary, Middle and High School and improve professional development for ACPS's educators.

While the Innovation Campus was originally announced to be in Oakville Triangle, Virginia Tech decided that a property in North Potomac Yard (where the movie theater currently is) made more sense given their future growth plans. In June of last year,  the leaders of Virginia Tech were back in Alexandria to announce the new location they had selected the property for their future "Innovation Campus."

Integral to the Commonwealth's attraction of Amazon was access to the talent Amazon will require to grow. The creation of a new $1 billion graduate campus will provide a pipeline of talent for our entire region. 

Last year, I wrote in this newsletter about our partnership with Arlington to ensure that the benefits of these new investments accrue to all in our communities. As this campus begins to take shape, our work continues. 

Last week was the annual meeting of Visit Alexandria, Alexandria's convention and visitors association. Under normal circumstances, this would be the time when we discuss the success of the City's travel and hospitality industry. Last year, at this time, we were noting a record $859 million of visitor spending, which generated $27.9 million of local tax receipts, easing the burden on Alexandria's local taxpayers.

As of February of this year, our hotel occupancy rate was on track to blow through recent records and achieve 77.1% for the fiscal year (July 1, 2019 - June 30, 2020). With March, April, May and June impacted by COVID, the City finished the year with a 55.7% occupancy rate, the lowest in recent memory.

From February through July, the City has lost over $12 million from the combined impact to our consumption-based taxes. The revenue loss from that period alone is equivalent to the revenue from three cents on our real estate tax rate.

Throughout the pandemic, the City has worked to save the small businesses that make this City special.

Early in this crisis, the City approved millions of dollars of tax deferrals to provide Alexandria small businesses with the liquidity to assist them in surviving and later reopening. 

We have worked with businesses to access Federal grants and lending. We have made a variety of regulatory changes to support the transition of our businesses to a "new normal," including suspending enforcement of outdoor dining restrictions, hours of operation, sidewalk vending, etc.

To support the continuing financial needs of our small businesses, the City initiated the Alexandria Back to Business Grant Program. This program, utilizing a portion of the City's Federal CARES Act funding, distributed $3.5 million in grants to over 300 Alexandria businesses that have been impacted by COVID-19.

Beginning yesterday, we are now accepting applications for the second round of our Back to Business grants. Applications will be accepted until Monday October 5th.

In addition to these financial and regulatory efforts, the City launched ALX Promise.  This new program will recognize those businesses that have gone beyond the minimum standards to keep their customers and employees safe. Watch for the logo around our City! 

In government, we have an obligation to provide a regulatory process that is efficient, predictable, and expedient. Sometimes our existing processes fall short of that mark. Throughout my tenure on Council, I have worked to improve processes to make Alexandria the best place for small business in our region. 

In June of 2016, by a vote of 6-1, the City Council took a significant step in improving the process that businesses must go through to get started in Alexandria.

Upon the recommendation of a community task force, the City Council voted 6-1 to approve new parking standards for commercial properties. These new standards streamline the process for new businesses to open and facilitate shared parking arrangements. These new standards are also more realistic and reflect the amount of parking actually needed for businesses. 

In 2003, the City Council pioneered the use of administrative special use permits as part of the approval of the Arlandria Plan. Under Administrative Special Use Permits, the staff can apply defined criteria and provide a new business with permission to operate (if it operates under a pre-approved set of restrictions), avoiding the necessity for hearing before the Planning Commission and City Council. 

Over a decade ago, the City created the Small Business Task Force, which recommended expansion of the Administrative Special Use Permit process. 

In 2008, the City Council approved a package of reforms to further ease the impacts on new small businesses. In 2010, the Council approved a separate package of additional reforms. 

At the beginning of the year, the City hosted our 2020 Housing Summit. The event was designed to draw residents and policy experts from around the region and the nation. The attendees discussed the status of the City's implementation of our 2013 Housing Master Plan along with discussion of our continued housing challenges and the options to address those challenges in the future. It was a thought-provoking session and you can review the presentations and videos for all of the sessions online.

During my presentation at the beginning of the session, I discussed the City's achievement toward our goal of creating of preserving an additional 2,000 committed affordable units before 2025. Through a variety of efforts, the City had accounted for 1,404 of the 2,000 housing units we are working towards. 

Of the 1,404 units 735 of them have been created through partnerships with non-profits and the City's housing authority, the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority. These partnerships have typically utilized Federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) and braided several different funding approaches. Creating housing that remains affordable regardless of often unforgiving market conditions, requires creativity and a little luck. 

In January our City's Housing staff assembled the financing for the acquisition of a West End property that had been on the market. With the purchase, which closed earlier this year, the building and its units will be preserved as committed affordable housing. 

The Avana Alexandria Apartments is a building located at 3001 Park Center Drive. It consists of 326 apartments, with most currently affordable at market rates to residents making 70% - 80% of the Area Median Income. 

The purchase was made by the Alexandria Housing Development Corporation (AHDC), a housing development non-profit created by the City, and it represents two firsts: 

With this purchase, AHDC will be able to operate the building as committed workforce housing for decades to come. This is an exciting arrangement that highlights the partnerships required to make affordable housing happen in our city. 

Last month, the City Council unanimously approved the extension of pre-development financing to AHDC and Wesley Housing, another affordable housing non-profit, to explore three other affordable housing development opportunities:

All three of these projects will still proceed through the City's land-use process to ensure suitability. If they come to fruition, they will go a long way to improving the City's stock of committed affordable housing.

In order to meet the City's obligations under the Federal Clean Water Act and the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act, the City holds an MS4 Permit (Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System). The permit, issued by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, imposes a "pollution diet" on the City.

The conditions of the permit require the City to reduce phosphorus, nitrogen and sediment from entering waterways. These reductions are required to progressively increase over the life of the permit.

One of the most effective ways for the City to achieve these aggressive pollution reduction targets is to make improvements to City-owned properties.

To ease the burden on Alexandria's taxpayers, the City has sought funding from the Commonwealth. The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality administers the Stormwater Local Assistance Fund (SLAF), which provides matching grants to assist local governments in addressing these requirements.

The City recently completed two major stormwater projects, the Lake Cook Stormwater Management Retrofit Project and the Ben Brenman Pond Stormwater Management Retrofit Project.

The Lake Cook project, was the beneficiary of $1.5 million of SLAF funding, and made significant improvements to better treat stormwater and enhance the natural resources at this location along Eisenhower Avenue.

The Ben Brenman Pond project, was the beneficiary of $1.75 million of SLAF funding, and made improvements to better filter pollutants and upgrade landscaping at this location in Cameron Station.

The City has now received SLAF funding for two other projects:

The Strawberry Run Stream Restoration received $800,000 of SLAF funding and proposes making natural stream restoration improvements in an area bounded by Fort Williams Parkway, Taft Avenue and Duke Street.

The Taylor Run Stream Restoration has received $2.55 million of SLAF funding and proposes making natural stream restoration improvements in an area near the Chinquapin Recreation Center. On Tuesday, our City staff hosted a virtual community meeting to discuss next steps on this important environmental project. You can review the latest online.

The City has important obligations to improve the quality of the water in the waterways of our region. These investments help the City meet our obligations long into the future.

To do so, we created the Ad Hoc Joint City-Schools Facility Investment Task Force. This blue-ribbon group brought together significant expertise to help the City prioritize and streamline a municipal facilities vision that ensures the success of City and School services for decades to come. 

In 2017 the City Manager constituted the new Ad Hoc group, and in 2018 the group concluded their work. You can watch the meetings and read the materials online.

In concluding their work, the Task Force presented their second and final deliverable to the City Council and School Board. These recommendations proposed a series of process reforms designed to improve the joint management of the City's infrastructure work. 

Years later, things are much better. The collaboration between the City Council and School Board, between the City Manager and the Superintendent and between the City Staff and the ACPS Staff is far more collaborative and constructive. Here's the latest staff report on the status of implementing these findings. 

In October of last year, at a joint worksession, the Council and School Board discussed these issues in depth. You can watch the discussion online. 

A short virtual presentation on the status of this planning effort is online and available for viewing. The slides from that presentation are also available online.

Once you have had a chance to review the materials, we'd like your feedback. The survey will be open until October 11th.

In 2011, the City's flood zone maps were last updated, expanding the flood zones in Old Town, Rosemont and Arlandria. The expansion of these zones extended the number of property owners required to purchase policies from the Federal Emergency Management Administration's (FEMA) National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) as a condition of their mortgage.

The release of these new maps is part of the periodic update of the City's flood maps. There will be a process to accept community input and once finalized, the new maps are expected to go into effect in 2022.

Every property owner is eligible to purchase FEMA Flood Insurance. While it is only required for those in higher-risk areas, given the unpredictability of flooding, the purchase of flood insurance is recommended.

The City participates in the NFIP Community Rating System (CRS). This program allows localities to be certified based on flood plain management practices. The lower the score a community receives, the larger the discount received by property owners who purchase flood insurance. In 2013, the City became the first community in the Commonwealth of Virginia to receive a CRS score as low as 6. That entitles Alexandria property owners to a 20% discount when purchasing flood insurance, the highest discount level of any locality in Virginia.

Shortly after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, I put out a statement that included this sentence: "We are called upon to uproot a culture of white supremacy woven into our founding as a nation, perpetuated through law and custom for generations, and present today in even the most ‘progressive’ communities in our country, including Alexandria."

A few weeks later, a letter to the editor in one of our local papers stated: "Wilson proclaims, without providing evidence, that a “culture of white supremacy pervades our city."

My reading at the beach in August was “The Color of Law” by Richard Rothstein. It was a clarifying read for me.

Here is Alexandria's current zoning map.

Here is our 2010 Census data, including the racial geography of our City.

In 1969, President Nixon’s Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) launched his “Open Communities” initiative, which proposed to deny Federal funding to jurisdictions that sustained housing segregation. The effort was designed to implement the recently enacted Fair Housing Act. A backlash ensued, and President Nixon abandoned the plan that had been advanced by his HUD Secretary. His HUD Secretary was George Romney, Senator Mitt Romney’s father.

Almost a half-century later, President Obama’s HUD promulgated the “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing” Rule (AFFH) to require local jurisdictions to identify barriers to fair housing and create a plan for removing those barriers.

President Trump famously repealed that rule with a racist tweet promising “suburban housewives” they would not have to face the invasion of “low-income housing” in their neighborhoods.

The President’s demagoguery was rightfully met with the scorn it deserved, particularly in Alexandria. Yet, great controversy envelops each attempt in our City to integrate low-income housing in our community, whether it is new housing development at Ramsey Homes, Fairlington Presbyterian Church or South Patrick Street. Zoning reform efforts and parking policy changes to facilitate low-income housing are met with similar fates.

In a season of many tragedies and loss, the loss of a considerable amount of education for our children has been particularly frustrating. Children should be in school learning. Watching some students miss the traditional senior year of high school and others miss the beginning of Kindergarten is a loss that can never be replaced.

The Alexandria City Public Schools are now conducting a survey of parents to inform the next stage of planning for reopening. Please provide your input before Friday.

Earlier this week, the Virginia Department of Health posted a new view of the Commonwealth's COVID data that reflects the new "Indicators for Dynamic School Decision-Making" that were issued by the Centers for Disease Control. While this data is not intended to be decisive for policymakers, it does provide a useful input.

Educational policymakers around our nation are in an impossible situation as they attempt to provide a first-class education to our students against the backdrop of an extraordinary pandemic.

This model provides for virtual education in our schools for the first quarter. In two weeks, the Superintendent will return to the School Board to present the plan for the next phase of reopening.

For our students and families, our schools serve many important functions beyond educational instruction. They provide child-care, food and nutrition services, health care services, transportation and more. The pandemic has forced a disaggregation of how we provide school. Filling the gaps has required difficult choices and partnerships with various public agencies, non-profits and private providers.

As part of the VirtualPlus+ plan, there are school-day care available for students from various providers. APCS has provided a list of available alternatives and the City's Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities has also providing detailing of their programmatic offerings.

While the decision to close schools in March was a difficult one, it was rather binary. Once it was clear school buildings could not remain safely open, they were closed.

The decisions surrounding the reopening of schools in the fall are much more difficult, nuanced and complex. The first building block of that decision-making process is the guidelines, entitled "Recover. Redesign. Restart," that was issued three months ago by the Virginia Department of Education. This 136 page document details how local school divisions in the Commonwealth should undertake a fall reopening.

There is no question that policymakers influencing school decisions want to see our students back in school. As a parent of two ACPS students myself, I share that desire. The health benefits of students being in school together are considerable.

I recognize there are stark realities presented by virtual education. Many of our students cannot learn virtually. Students will fall behind academically, socially and emotionally. Some of our more vulnerable students (lower-income, special education, limited language proficiency, etc) are in an even more precarious situation. I don't believe you will find anyone involved in educational policy-making right now who believes this is optimal.

Yet, I also recognize that the public health challenge we are facing is quite real, exacerbates existing inequality, and requires engagement with all stakeholders prior to committing to a particular reopening approach.

The work of supporting our families is not solely the work of ACPS. The City government, our non-profit partners and our community will need to collaborate to provide the critical services our students and their families require during this time. While the conditions are clearly sub-optimal, we owe it to our students to support every student during this extraordinary time in their lives.

Just about a year ago, we were celebrating the reopening of Alexandria's Metro stations after a summer shutdown that threatened the livelihoods of residents and businesses alike.

That celebration of a year ago now feels very distant as the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) faces the most significant financial crisis in its history.

The combined ridership of Metrorail and Metrobus is down 80% versus the levels pre-COVID.

Metrobus fare collection has been suspended since March and Metrorail revenues, which typically comprise two-thirds's of the system's overall revenue, remain flat.

While Federal assistance for transit agencies nationally helped assist WMATA at the beginning of this crisis, additional assistance has not been forthcoming.

Today, WMATA loses roughly $2 million each weekday! Given Alexandria typically funds approximately 5% of WMATA's jurisdictional contributions, this financial crisis has broad implications for the region and our local budget.

The WMATA Board is taking emergency actions to cut both Metrorail and Metrobus service, as well as eliminate jobs to balance their budget absent further Federal assistance.